Turkey is a traditional meat to celebrate Christmas with, but over the years, it has increasingly become unpopular due to its reputation for being dry and tasteless. If it’s overcooked, the meat can taste dry, and the skin may appear wrinkled and unappetising. Adding bacon and stuffings can help, but Mary Berry has shared that the key is in the preparation.
Mary has found that many people are actually cooking their turkey wrong, as it can be quite juicy as long as you take five minutes to prepare it properly.
1. Make sure to add fat to the breast
In an interview with the BBC, Mary said: “The secret to a moist turkey is to protect the breast and not to overcook it. Turkey breast is a lean meat and can dry out if it isn’t protected from the intense heat of an oven.”
Turkey is not as fatty as chicken or other roasted meats, so it is crucial to first cover it in some sort of fat, such as bacon or butter.
Adding fat to a turkey slows down the moisture loss while it is cooking in the oven, acting like insulation to protect the meat and allowing it to cook gently rather than burning.
Not only will it help keep the inside of the meat as juicy as possible, but the fat will also crisp up the skin, resulting in a perfectly golden-brown turkey full of flavour.
2. Wrap the turkey loosely in foil and paper
Next, cover the turkey in tin foil or baking paper, but be careful not to wrap it tightly.
You want your covering to be loose and raised to allow a little space above the meat, which will trap steam and help keep the turkey as moist as possible.
Mary said: “Ideally, cover the turkey and its tin with the paper and foil, to make a tent in which the moisture remains, rather than just covering the turkey itself.”
Keep the coverings on for most of the cooking time, but remove them 30 minutes before the time is up to allow the bacon or butter to crisp the skin.
3. Be careful what oven tray you are using
Many people use the biggest oven tray they own to cook a turkey, but this is a major mistake, as too much space will cause the juices to evaporate rather than stay locked into the meat.
This means the top part of the turkey will dry out, and any remaining juices will leak, resulting in the bottom becoming extremely soggy.
You need to use a close-fitting tray that is just large enough to hold the turkey, and make sure the roast cannot move about.
Mary added: “Place in a roasting tin that they fit pretty snugly in – some turkey crowns come in a foil tin. The moisture that collects under the crowns as they cook helps keep them moist. In a large tin, this can evaporate off quickly.”
Take just a few minutes to follow these three simple rules, and you will end up with a juicy turkey that is easy to cook, so you can enjoy a stress-free Christmas.